Man, woman charged with prostituting underage girls

Two county residents have been arrested on federal prostitution charges for allegedly drugging three underage girls and forcing them to have sex for money, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to the statement and indictment, Lloyd Mack Royal III, 28, coerced the girls to have sex for pay; hit the girls; threatened the girls and their families; and threatened one of the girls with a handgun between April and May 2007.

Royal sometimes gave the girls drugs, alcohol or cigarettes dipped in PCP before making them have sex, according to the statement.

The girls met customers in Gaithersburg hotels or were taken to Washington, D.C., according to the justice department. Royal told them to lie about their ages, according to the statement, and also occasionally sold cocaine to customers.

Royal was indicted on Jan. 28 in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on charges of conspiracy, sex trafficking and brandishing a firearm in the furtherance of a crime of violence, according to the statement. A criminal complaint for the sex trafficking scheme was filed against Angela Samantha Bentolila, 26, who is accused of providing her home and vehicle to facilitate sex acts, according to the statement.